Originally published in The Pacific Times and Australian Chinese News.
Written by Julie Dickson, a graduate of the Change Our Game Women in Sports Media Program.
When Lisa Dong’s daughters wanted to play table tennis, she discovered the closest table tennis club was too far to travel, so she founded a table tennis club close to home.
Lisa’s second daughter started playing table tennis at eight-and-a-half years old, coached by her neighbour who was a table tennis coach. Her youngest daughter joined soon after.
“The youngest went to follow her sister. They're doing it together.”
When Lisa looked for a table tennis club in the eastern suburbs for her daughters to train, she realised the closest one was one and a half hours away in Melbourne’s west.
“In eastern suburbs, if kids really want to do table tennis, there is no training system … so I just started this academy. It is very close to my home. I want to save some travel time.”
Scorpio Table Tennis Academy is in Burwood, in Melbourne’s east. Lisa founded it in 2023, and she is still the president to this day.
The club had small beginnings.
“We started from step zero. Only my daughters, only a few kids from the start. We got a lot of support from a few local kids.”
The club has a combination of training for fun and training for competitions.
To build up those numbers, the club focused on the training and word of mouth.
“They quite enjoy the club, and they build up our culture just like a family.”
Now the club has 200 players and also caters to adults.
A big focus of the club is teaching members the right technique in table tennis.
“Table tennis, it relies on muscle memory. So if you build the wrong muscle memory, you have to spend more two or three times time to correct to the wrong memory.”
Lisa’s daughters are still enjoying playing table tennis, and she enjoys watching them play and improve their skills.
Lisa would like to see table tennis become as popular as other sports, such as basketball and netball.
“Table tennis is a very good sport. They are not affected by weather. They can play anywhere.”
Table tennis is a great sport for people of all ages, and kids as young as five can play.
“Table tennis helps them for the concentration and for body coordination.”
If you’re interested in getting involved, contact Scorpio Table Tennis Club at scorpiotabletennis@gmail.com
This piece was produced in collaboration with the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.
Page last updated: 19 March 2025
We acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay our respects to them, their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
We respect and welcome people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, abilities and cultures.